Bonjour everyone!

It's been a while since I've updated so there is lots to share!

In February we had our two-week long sketch/travel break, and I went to Brussels(Belgium) and a few cities in the south of France(Nimes, Arles, Avignon). Brussels had wonderful food(waffles, chocolate, french fries) and the south of France was incredibly interesting. There was lots of old Roman architecture such as temples, amphitheaters, fountains, and gardens. I took a train to the south of France and used trains to transfer from one city to another. I had such an enjoyable time looking out the window on the 3-hour or so ride down there, gazing out at the rolling hills and farms, petite little villages, an occasional castle, hay bails, and scraggly little trees speckled here and there. The french countryside is beautiful. It is very picturesque-like something that Monet would paint.

The cities that I visited were small. I also got to get a taste of the French 'southern' accent. The hotels that I stayed in were old buildings, each with quirks of their own. In the hotel in Nimes the shower did not have a curtain, so I bathed behind a stone wall which was part of a cut out in the wall, and felt like I was in ancient Rome! In Nimes I saw the Pont du Gard(the tallest of the Roman aqueducts), an amphitheater, a beautiful garden with a Temple of Diana(pleasant surprise!), and the Maison Carree(one of the best preserved temples in the world).

In Arles I saw the Baths of Constantine(huge Roman baths with lots of stone vaulting), and the Alyscamps(a huge cemetery that Van Gogh painted). There was also a hospital where Van Gogh had stayed. I sketched the tiled rooftops of the city, making sure to include the plastered stone walls, the wooden shutters, and all the potted plants sitting in the windows. I saw lots of cats and dogs wandering around, as well as street performers in the square.

Avignon was interesting because the entire city was surrounded by 14th century ramparts. It was like a huge fortification with turrets and bridges. The main building to see in Avignon was the Palace of the Popes(because it was where the seat of religious power was moved during conflict at some point in history). It was a huge fortified palace-I walked all around it. I also saw a castle-like monastery with a beautiful garden which was at the top of a huge hill-so I got a great view of Avignon.

The weather was beautiful in southern France and I really enjoyed each of the cities I visited. Traveling by train was fast and easy. And one of the best parts of the trip was that my sketching improved 200%-I really made progress, so much that it looked like someone else had sketched for me! So I really got a lot out of that trip.

About a week after the break we had another sketching assignment where we picked one building in Paris and did a few pages on it. I picked the City of Fashion and Design in Paris-a modern building for fashion students. It was neat. I have spent so much time studying historic buildings that it was good for me to see the modern parts of Paris as well.

Also, after we returned from break we had a joint project with the French students-our last project with them for the year. The project was a week long intensive where you had to design a small housing unit for homeless people. It was one american to four or five french students, like the first project. All of the groups were divided into three large ones, each headed by a professor who had a slightly different project related to homelessness. For our project we designed a unit that exemplified the use of media(computers, radio, television, etc.) There was a lady with a design firm in Africa who came and headed one of the projects-she was so interesting to listen to. I felt like I learned a lot more about architecture from that project.

I also attended one of the French lectures(just for fun) and didn't understand much by ear, but was able to translate a lot of the text on the screen, so it might have helped my French a little.

The week after that I was visited by my aunt, uncle, and cousins and got to stay with them in Paris and show them around-it was so much fun! We saw Paris Friday and Saturday, and on Sunday we went to the Chateau and gardens. It was the first time someone had come to visit me, and my first time acting as tour guide ;)

In a few weeks we have another big party with the french students-It's the end of the year "American" party with a different theme each year, and this year it's "high school" themed. I'm really looking forward to it.

On the same day during the afternoon I'm going to a poetry competition in Paris at a school I've been volunteering at throughout the year. High school girls are going to recite American poems, and American students like me can volunteer to help them prepare. It's a very prestigious event, with interesting people on the jury. Renzo Piano(one of the architects of the Centre Pompidou) was invited, so it's possible I could get to meet him! It should be a wonderful time.

Hope everyone is doing well!!

A bientot,
Diana